Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 29,710,000 shares, a decrease of 16.1% from the March 15th total of 35,410,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 17,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.34.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,369,000 after acquiring an additional 30,510 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. NatWest Group plc increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 172,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,115,000 after purchasing an additional 63,102 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,444,000 after buying an additional 2,548 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.72. 17,768,814 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,493,056. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $81.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.